THE “TEXTUAL” BAY GANYU AND HIS ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGES, OR WHERE DID THE BELGIAN ROOM, THE VIENNA REDINGOT AND THE PALACE FRACTURE DONE?
The article starts from the discrepancy between the visual image of Bai Ganyo imposed by Bulgarian artists and the descriptions of the character in the text of the work, in order to ask the question of what is the model on which the book is built. Is this the model of realistic literature, as the work is usually read, or is it some other? The distinction introduced by Sergey Averintsev between the models of ancient Greek literature and Near Eastern literature has been used to defend the thesis that Bai Ganyu exhibits all the basic signs of literature. The main characteristics of this model are: the allegorical poetics of the parable, not of ekphrasis; the involvement of the word directly in life situations; indexical, rather than iconic, function of verbal descriptions of the visual; the fundamental incompleteness of the work; manifestation of the personages as “ethos” rather than “characters”; functioning of the work as part of a ritual, in which its social function is realized through direct instruction. The analysis of the book in accordance with this model concludes that the allegorical meanings of the two main problematic concepts in it – “European” and “Bai Ganyu” – are different in the first and second parts. Thus, the question arises about the genre of the work, which also determines its place in life – way of perception, cultivated patterns of behavior and social function. The thesis that Bai Ganyu – Incredible Stories of a Modern Bulgarian is a novel has been disputed, and it has been stated that the book is a cycle of stories built on the paradoxical combination of the models of parable and anecdote, and its entirety is organized 100not around a single story, as would happen in a novel, but around the main problem that the book poses. The problem of the difficult transition of Bulgaria and Bulgarians to the conditions, values, lifestyle and social rules of modernity.
THE “TEXTUAL” BAY GANYU AND HIS ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGES, OR WHERE DID THE BELGIAN ROOM, THE VIENNA REDINGOT AND THE PALACE FRACTURE DONE?
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Alexander Panov, Prof. DSc.
- [email protected]
- Institute for Literature – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Bulgaria
Александър Панов, роден през 1953 г. в гр. Перник, завършва Бъл- гарска филология в Софийския университет „Св. Климент Охридски“ през 1978 г. Кандидат на науките (доктор) с дисертация на тема „Жанрове в българската лирика на прелома между двете столетия – очерк по историческа поетика“ (1985). Старши научен сътрудник (доцент) от 1997 г. Доктор на науките с дисертация на тема „Художествена система на Ботева поезия“ (2011). Професор по теория и история на литературата в Института за литература при БАН от 2012 г. Основ- ните области на научните му интереси са: теория на литературата, литературна антропология, жанрова теория и историческа поетика на българската литература. Автор е на книгите: „Теория на литературата“ (1995 и 2000), „Културни проблеми на българското литературно развитие“ (1997), „Художествена система на Ботевата поезия“ (2012), „„Песни и стихотворения“ от Христо Ботев – структура, основни сюжети и символични образи“ (2012), „Литературният образ извън пространството на книгата“ (2013), на многобройни статии и студии по теория на литературата, историческа поетика, литературна антропология, жанрова теория и др., както и на множество учебници и учебни помагала за средните училища.
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Abstract:The article starts from the discrepancy between the visual image of Bai Ganyo imposed by Bulgarian artists and the descriptions of the character in the text of the work, in order to ask the question of what is the model on which the book is built. Is this the model of realistic literature, as the work is usually read, or is it some other? The distinction introduced by Sergey Averintsev between the models of ancient Greek literature and Near Eastern literature has been used to defend the thesis that Bai Ganyu exhibits all the basic signs of literature. The main characteristics of this model are: the allegorical poetics of the parable, not of ekphrasis; the involvement of the word directly in life situations; indexical, rather than iconic, function of verbal descriptions of the visual; the fundamental incompleteness of the work; manifestation of the personages as “ethos” rather than “characters”; functioning of the work as part of a ritual, in which its social function is realized through direct instruction. The analysis of the book in accordance with this model concludes that the allegorical meanings of the two main problematic concepts in it – “European” and “Bai Ganyu” – are different in the first and second parts. Thus, the question arises about the genre of the work, which also determines its place in life – way of perception, cultivated patterns of behavior and social function. The thesis that Bai Ganyu – Incredible Stories of a Modern Bulgarian is a novel has been disputed, and it has been stated that the book is a cycle of stories built on the paradoxical combination of the models of parable and anecdote, and its entirety is organized 100not around a single story, as would happen in a novel, but around the main problem that the book poses. The problem of the difficult transition of Bulgaria and Bulgarians to the conditions, values, lifestyle and social rules of modernity.
Subject: На изток от Новото времеKeywords: традиционност modernity нарация културна функция словесност literature genre
